Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Sunday announced a new strategy against the FARC, which has recently increased its attacks on security forces and towns.
The new strategy follows a series of high profile bombings allegedly carried out by the rebel group last week, and increasing criticism of Santos’ security policy.
“We will take additional measures to prevent continued attacks,” said Santos .
The president has yet to announce anything specific, but said the new strategy would give authorities additional “legal and technological measures.”
Santos said the recent attacks signaled a weakening FARC. “They are desperate because they can no longer control territory like they did before,” he said.
General Ernesto Perez echoed the sentiment. “What’s happening is the terrorists feel harassed. They’re attacking to relieve pressure on other territories,” he said.
Security analyst and Uribe supporter Alfredo Rangel told Dow Jones that guerrilla attacks have been on the rise for two years, and are now intensifying. However, Rangel’s numbers are being contradicted by a recent report by the leftist think tank Nuevo Arco Iris that measured an increase in attacks since 2004 with a sharp increase after 2007.